Onlookers gather at the scene of a petrol bomb attack on a Cairo disco in the Agouza neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital's Giza district on December 4, 2015. At least 16 people were killed and two wounded in the early morning attack, police said. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

An Egyptian police investigator stands the entrance of a Cairo disco where a petrol bomb attack took place in the Agouza neighbourhood of the capital's Giza district on December 4, 2015. At least 16 people were killed and two wounded in the early morning attack, police said. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

A forensic investigator inspects the entrance of a Cairo disco where a petrol bomb attack took place in the Agouza neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital's Giza district on December 4, 2015. At least 16 people were killed and two wounded in the early morning attack, police said. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

People and investigators gather at the scene of a petrol bomb attack on a Cairo disco in the Agouza neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital's Giza district on December 4, 2015. At least 16 people were killed and two wounded in the early morning attack, police said. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

Forensic investigators gather evidence at the scene of a petrol bomb attack on a Cairo disco in the Agouza neighbourhood of the Egyptian capital's Giza district on December 4, 2015. At least 16 people were killed and two wounded in the early morning attack, police said. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED (Photo credit should read MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP/Getty Images)

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A Molotov cocktail hurled at a Cairo restaurant killed 16 people and wounded two on Friday, Egyptian security officials said.

One of the officials said the attacker was an employee who had been fired from the restaurant in the Agouza area in the center of the Egyptian capital.

Victims of the blast were burned to death or died from smoke inhalation in the establishment. The restaurant, also a nightclub, was located in a basement, offering no escape route, the officials said.

Islamist militants have claimed a number of bombing and shooting attacks in Egypt, mostly against members of the security forces since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests.